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N E W S   &   A N N O U N C E M E N T S What's New?   |   Faculty in the News   |    News Archive   |   News Home BLS Presents Day-Long Conference on "The New Economy and the Unraveling Social Safety Net" "Middle class families are collapsing under the weight of their basic financial obligations." Elizabeth Warren The erosion of longstanding workplace protections such as healthcare and the loss of traditional job stability are sources of concern and anxiety for Americans at every economic level. Personal and commercial bankruptcies are soaring, adding to the unease of working individuals and their families. On Friday, April 11, Brooklyn Law School presented a conference, "The New Economy and the Unraveling Social Safety Net," on the changing work environment, resulting gaps in the healthcare system, and the effects of easy consumer credit. The participants presented a range of initiatives to address these problems. The keynote speaker was Elizabeth Warren, the Leo E. Gottlieb Professor at Harvard Law School, whose work in bankruptcy and commercial law extends beyond the traditional confines of these business-oriented subjects, empirically redefining the field. She is the author of numerous publications, including the books, The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt (Yale University Press: 2000) and the forthcoming The Two-Income Trap (Basic Books: Fall 2003). Professor Warren provided a demographic picture of the impact of the new economy on the two-income middle class family. Joining Professor Warren were scholars, practitioners, and public policy advocates, all of whom are experts in their respective fields of employment and health law, bankruptcy, and commercial law. Papers and commentary presented at this conference will be published in a forthcoming volume of the Brooklyn Law Review. The Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Program and the Center for Health Law and Policy sponsored the conference. The Sparer Program honors the life and work of Edward V. Sparer, Class of 1959, a scholar, teacher, activist, and pioneer in the fields of health law and poverty. The program promotes the public interest work to which Ed Sparer devoted his life, and seeks to encourage students to pursue public interest careers. The Center for Health Law and Policy is a resource for members of the law school community, health service providers and policymakers. It provides programs in three core areas – scholarship and faculty development, legal education and student services, and public education and community service. View video from the First Panel from the Symposium. View the brochure for the day's program. (PDF) Read the article form the New York Sun. (PDF)

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